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Accidents increase at Chicago red light camera intersections

// December 18th, 2009 // Tech News

The Chicago suburbs are buying into the red light camera movement , but the results are not very positive. The number of accidents actually rose during the first year the cameras were installed in most instances, with another two showing no change whatsoever. The trend reflects what other municipalities are finding when it comes to the alleged “safety” benefits of the cameras. There isn’t any, but that isn’t stopping more cities from cashing in on the increase in tickets. The Chicago Tribune put together a handy page that contains yearly accident data for every red light camera installed in the Chicago metropolitan area from 2006 and 2007. According to the data, the first 14 installed in the suburbs right after they got the green light (ba-dum ching!) in 2006 showed pretty poor results: a full 50 percent saw an increase in accidents after the cameras were installed. In fact, some of the intersections didn’t just show an average increase—some of them were quite significant. At the very least, the cameras don’t seem to be helping, and some believe they are leading to more accidents because more drivers are slamming on the brakes when they come up to an intersection equipped with one.